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1
00:00:51,267 --> 00:00:53,967
He leaves a message, a yellow sticky,
2
00:00:54,100 --> 00:00:56,667
on the dead black of his computer screen.
3
00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:05,500
His colleagues
won't be seeing him
for the rest of the afternoon.
4
00:01:05,533 --> 00:01:10,633
Rare joy of truancy,
of bold escape
from the trap of work.
5
00:01:13,067 --> 00:01:15,115
That heap of typescript
can be left to dwell
6
00:01:15,233 --> 00:01:19,400
on its thousand offences
against grammar
and good sense.
7
00:01:19,533 --> 00:01:23,067
His trusty blue pen
can snooze with its cap on.
8
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:24,800
Nobody will notice.
9
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,867
He shuts the door
on the sleeping dog
of his own departure.
10
00:01:32,067 --> 00:01:33,733
Hurries, not too fast,
11
00:01:33,867 --> 00:01:39,467
along the corridor,
taps the lift
button and waits.
12
00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,767
To meet even one person
at this delicate juncture
13
00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:45,100
would sully the whole enterprise.
14
00:01:47,300 --> 00:01:49,800
But he's in luck.
15
00:01:49,933 --> 00:01:52,067
The lift yawns emptily.
16
00:01:52,733 --> 00:01:54,333
He steps in
17
00:01:55,133 --> 00:01:57,067
is enclosed
18
00:01:58,333 --> 00:02:01,500
and carried downwards to sunlight
19
00:02:01,633 --> 00:02:06,067
and London's approximation of fresh air.
20
00:02:07,700 --> 00:02:09,600
With one bound
21
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:12,200
he is free!
22
00:02:17,067 --> 00:02:22,133
It's a district
of literary ghosts
that walk in broad daylight.
23
00:02:22,267 --> 00:02:25,133
Keep your imagination peeled
and see Virginia Woolf
24
00:02:25,267 --> 00:02:28,300
loping off to the library
with a trug full of books.
25
00:02:31,967 --> 00:02:36,167
And there goes TS Eliot,
bound for his first
martini of the day,
26
00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:39,567
with his gig-lamps
and his immaculate sheen.
27
00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:48,067
Bloomsbury and its blue plaques.
28
00:02:48,133 --> 00:02:50,767
The squares and stucco terraces,
29
00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:55,733
where the little industrious
publishers still like to
hide their offices.
30
00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,333
Leafy literary-land,
31
00:02:59,467 --> 00:03:02,500
that by some dispensation
has been left to stand
32
00:03:02,633 --> 00:03:07,433
amid the road drills and high,
swivelling cranes.
33
00:03:10,633 --> 00:03:14,333
In his fifties, he favours
a younger man's
impatient pace,
34
00:03:14,467 --> 00:03:17,700
skipping round dawdling
or stupidly
halted pedestrians.
35
00:03:20,567 --> 00:03:23,067
You're not properly living in London
36
00:03:23,133 --> 00:03:25,800
if you don't use the dodges,
the short-cuts.
37
00:03:27,167 --> 00:03:29,300
Yet it's 20 minutes' walk from work
38
00:03:29,433 --> 00:03:32,300
to this lunchtime date with an old flame.
39
00:03:34,267 --> 00:03:39,367
Gaggles of tourists straggle
more provocatively than ever.
40
00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:43,533
Never mind,
he's making good time,
note the active verb,
41
00:03:43,667 --> 00:03:46,567
and he expects she'll be late.
42
00:03:48,167 --> 00:03:51,800
The restaurant is
an old haunt, though he hasn't
been there for years.
43
00:03:51,933 --> 00:03:55,800
Zanzotti's unreformed Soho Italian.
44
00:03:56,633 --> 00:03:58,067
Chianti in a basket,
45
00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:00,967
breadsticks you snap
with a sneeze of dust,
46
00:04:01,100 --> 00:04:04,100
red gingham cloths
overlaid on the diagonal
47
00:04:04,233 --> 00:04:05,900
with plain green paper ones.
48
00:04:06,067 --> 00:04:08,833
Finger smears at the neck
of the water carafe,
49
00:04:08,967 --> 00:04:16,067
and Massimo himself touring
the tables with
his fake bonhomie.
50
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,700
But Soho has changed.
51
00:04:18,833 --> 00:04:21,200
The speciality food shops
pushed out of business,
52
00:04:21,333 --> 00:04:26,067
tarts chased off the streets
and a new kind of
trashiness moving in.
53
00:04:26,167 --> 00:04:28,467
Cultureless, fly-by-night.
54
00:04:29,567 --> 00:04:31,367
But hey presto.
55
00:04:31,500 --> 00:04:37,367
Zanzotti's edges into view,
exactly as memory
has preserved it.
56
00:04:38,467 --> 00:04:39,667
Phew.
57
00:04:41,300 --> 00:04:43,667
When he suddenly recollects...
58
00:04:45,533 --> 00:04:47,400
What, precisely?
59
00:04:47,533 --> 00:04:51,333
Deja vu?
Some artistic analogy?
60
00:04:52,133 --> 00:04:54,400
Too bad. Let it go.
61
00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,667
On the threshold,
62
00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,800
on the edge of a shadow-world
that is yet to welcome him,
63
00:05:03,933 --> 00:05:06,067
he stands and waits.
64
00:05:07,233 --> 00:05:09,300
Waits for a waiter.
65
00:05:11,333 --> 00:05:14,733
First disappointing thing,
no sign of Massimo,
66
00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:17,767
nor of his old staff.
67
00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:21,733
Massimo's pirate crew,
as he privately
thought of them,
68
00:05:21,867 --> 00:05:25,433
some of whose names he knew
whilst knowing
nothing of their lives
69
00:05:25,567 --> 00:05:29,833
beyond the act,
grave, flirtatious,
resentful, brisk, droll,
70
00:05:29,967 --> 00:05:32,333
each brought to the table.
71
00:05:32,467 --> 00:05:34,800
Instead, young men and women,
72
00:05:34,933 --> 00:05:39,633
roughly half and half
and not all looking
especially Italian.
73
00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,533
How long has it been?
Five years?
74
00:05:43,667 --> 00:05:46,333
Six years? Ten?
75
00:05:47,533 --> 00:05:49,200
Fifteen?
76
00:05:50,067 --> 00:05:52,133
God help us all.
77
00:05:52,267 --> 00:05:55,067
Though time's winged chariot
with the brakes off
78
00:05:55,167 --> 00:05:59,467
and in full downhill hurtle
must be inaudible,
unheard-of, rather,
79
00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,467
to these sprightly boys and girls.
80
00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,167
He is noticed, but not
recognised, by a waiter he
does not recognise,
81
00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:12,253
but who catches his name
in his right ear,
82
00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:15,500
then bows clerically over
the ledger that bulges
from all the names,
83
00:06:15,633 --> 00:06:18,467
the months and years of names
written in it,
84
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,633
and that sits open on a slope
like a church-lectern Bible.
85
00:06:22,767 --> 00:06:25,133
The Book of Reservations.
86
00:06:28,100 --> 00:06:32,167
As ever, that pause of
anxiety and mute appeal.
87
00:06:34,867 --> 00:06:37,167
But there, happily, it is.
88
00:06:37,300 --> 00:06:39,533
Scriptural confirmation.
89
00:06:39,667 --> 00:06:44,200
Without a smile, without
a word, he is eyebrowed
and nodded to follow.
90
00:06:47,233 --> 00:06:50,600
Thank you.
And the wine list, please?
91
00:06:52,833 --> 00:06:55,233
On the back. I see.
92
00:06:57,067 --> 00:07:02,133
So things are
different after all,
under new mismanagement.
93
00:07:02,267 --> 00:07:04,867
Might have known it.
Did know it, perhaps.
94
00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,067
The very table linen
has lost its patriotism.
95
00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,400
Plain white. We surrender.
96
00:07:13,067 --> 00:07:14,833
And this menu,
97
00:07:14,967 --> 00:07:19,567
this twanging laminated card,
big as a riot
policeman's shield.
98
00:07:20,667 --> 00:07:24,700
Hmm. At first glance,
pizzas by the yard.
99
00:07:24,833 --> 00:07:28,467
More pizzas than
there should be.
And too much designer pizzazz.
100
00:07:30,767 --> 00:07:35,067
Choose the right wine and
have it ready breathing
for when she arrives.
101
00:07:35,167 --> 00:07:36,867
There's a mid-price Chianti,
102
00:07:37,067 --> 00:07:39,767
which won't come plump
in tight straw swaddling,
103
00:07:39,900 --> 00:07:42,567
but will do for auld lang syne.
104
00:07:46,133 --> 00:07:51,433
Old times' sake
being the precarious
purpose of this tete-a-tete,
105
00:07:51,567 --> 00:07:55,267
and possibly a great big mistake.
106
00:07:57,733 --> 00:08:00,100
We said we wouldn't look back.
107
00:08:00,233 --> 00:08:03,267
Why did she email him suggesting...?
108
00:08:05,067 --> 00:08:07,067
No, he did.
109
00:08:12,900 --> 00:08:17,200
He commands, nice word,
a clear view of the entrance,
110
00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:20,133
lit contre-jour so that each new arrival,
111
00:08:20,267 --> 00:08:22,067
new candidate for his notice,
112
00:08:22,167 --> 00:08:26,567
appears to step from
brightness to bathos with
a tacit apology.
113
00:08:26,700 --> 00:08:28,467
"Sorry, I'm not..."
114
00:08:30,267 --> 00:08:31,700
But if not, what?
115
00:08:33,133 --> 00:08:35,300
What will she look like?
116
00:08:36,633 --> 00:08:38,633
Fwop.
117
00:08:38,767 --> 00:08:40,533
The cork leaves the bottle
118
00:08:40,667 --> 00:08:43,700
and his quick
nose wants to pick up
the escaping bouquet.
119
00:08:43,833 --> 00:08:45,600
Will it be all right?
120
00:08:45,733 --> 00:08:48,667
The waiter pours
out the statutory
measure, one imperial glug,
121
00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,733
which he lifts
and breathes over thinkingly.
122
00:08:54,167 --> 00:08:55,667
Not corked.
123
00:08:57,133 --> 00:08:59,180
That's fine, thank you.
Leave it there, please.
124
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,433
He'll do the pouring.
125
00:09:08,367 --> 00:09:11,400
It's quite sharp but should broaden out.
126
00:09:12,833 --> 00:09:14,400
He takes his tumbler of water,
127
00:09:14,533 --> 00:09:17,167
overweight bubbles mobbing up
to greet him,
128
00:09:17,300 --> 00:09:21,833
sips that and
feels the chill fizz
smash against his palate.
129
00:09:21,967 --> 00:09:23,433
Thirstier than he thought,
130
00:09:23,567 --> 00:09:27,200
he drinks till the ice rests
on his upper lip.
131
00:09:27,967 --> 00:09:29,833
Hello.
132
00:09:29,967 --> 00:09:32,833
She's here.
How did that happen?
133
00:09:32,967 --> 00:09:35,900
Had he taken his eyes
off the door for so long?
134
00:09:36,067 --> 00:09:37,900
Flustered, self-reprimanding,
135
00:09:38,067 --> 00:09:40,767
he is still able to start
to rise from his seat...
136
00:09:40,900 --> 00:09:42,233
Well...
137
00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:45,067
I didn't see...
138
00:09:45,167 --> 00:09:48,548
...and be met halfway with
a soft peck, smack in
the middle of his mouth.
139
00:09:49,367 --> 00:09:52,300
Familiar collision of pout against pout.
140
00:09:54,133 --> 00:09:56,200
Though there's something different, too.
141
00:09:56,333 --> 00:09:58,967
A new, what? Fragrance? Aura?
142
00:09:59,100 --> 00:10:01,600
Hint of carefree expenditure?
143
00:10:01,733 --> 00:10:03,533
Waft of wealth?
144
00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,267
How lovely.
145
00:10:09,533 --> 00:10:10,800
I hope I'm not late.
146
00:10:10,933 --> 00:10:12,333
You're not late at all.
147
00:10:12,467 --> 00:10:16,833
So, the human paradox.
The same and changed.
148
00:10:16,967 --> 00:10:20,800
All that he remembers,
vivid in the differences.
149
00:10:21,700 --> 00:10:23,500
Is she thinner?
150
00:10:23,633 --> 00:10:26,480
Somehow there's a sharper
outline which is not just
smart tailoring,
151
00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:29,400
and her hair looks better behaved.
152
00:10:29,533 --> 00:10:32,367
She hangs her bag,
pampered scarlet leather,
153
00:10:32,500 --> 00:10:35,367
over the back of her chair
and skips into the seat.
154
00:10:36,933 --> 00:10:40,667
"Now," that movement says.
Quick, eager, a touch needy,
155
00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,600
as if she were
beginning a lesson
in a subject she's good at.
156
00:10:44,733 --> 00:10:46,733
It puts him on his mettle.
157
00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:48,600
There!
158
00:10:49,300 --> 00:10:50,933
Here.
159
00:10:51,067 --> 00:10:54,167
Lips, eyes, eyebrows
and the new
lines in her forehead
160
00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:56,300
fill out the harmony.
161
00:10:57,500 --> 00:10:58,900
Have some wine.
162
00:10:59,033 --> 00:11:02,800
I'm afraid it hasn't really had time...
163
00:11:02,933 --> 00:11:05,567
He pours into the two glasses,
164
00:11:05,700 --> 00:11:09,100
measuring, by ear, identical notes.
165
00:11:11,833 --> 00:11:15,700
This is a disappointment.
Remember the old flasks?
166
00:11:15,833 --> 00:11:17,947
Kitsch, I know,
but didn't you
have a soft spot?
167
00:11:17,967 --> 00:11:21,067
Snug in their raffia
like fat cuckoos
in small nests?
168
00:11:21,167 --> 00:11:24,467
Still, nothing lasts.
169
00:11:26,067 --> 00:11:28,900
- What's the toast?
- Happy days?
170
00:11:29,067 --> 00:11:30,700
Happy days it is.
171
00:11:30,833 --> 00:11:35,800
Rims meet and clink,
swaying the cradled liquid.
172
00:11:35,933 --> 00:11:38,467
Dark, sluggish ink.
173
00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:40,767
And they drink.
174
00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:44,267
Becoming palatable.
175
00:11:45,833 --> 00:11:48,633
- You haven't changed.
- Oh, I have.
176
00:11:48,767 --> 00:11:50,900
Witness this morning's bathroom mirror.
177
00:11:51,067 --> 00:11:53,020
The grey, the flab, the stoop, the frown,
178
00:11:53,067 --> 00:11:56,967
and in the deliberating,
disbelieving eyes,
179
00:11:57,100 --> 00:12:00,600
something like... terror.
180
00:12:02,700 --> 00:12:04,400
Not to notice.
181
00:12:04,533 --> 00:12:06,733
"Was that one
of the problems?"
he wonders,
182
00:12:06,867 --> 00:12:12,533
her blithe rebuffing
of such facts as didn't match
an optimistic outlook?
183
00:12:14,067 --> 00:12:18,233
He could argue, but the waiter
intervenes with a second menu,
184
00:12:18,367 --> 00:12:21,133
which slices into the infant conversation
185
00:12:21,267 --> 00:12:25,067
like a sweetly swung axe.
186
00:12:25,167 --> 00:12:27,267
- The menu, signora.
- Thank you.
187
00:12:32,900 --> 00:12:35,833
It's almost all pizzas.
188
00:12:35,967 --> 00:12:38,067
I'm afraid the place
has gone to the dogs.
189
00:12:38,133 --> 00:12:42,700
Don't be absurd, it's fine.
In fact, at first glance,
it's improved.
190
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,500
You know,
when you suggested this,
I wasn't so sure.
191
00:12:47,633 --> 00:12:49,233
Almost any other venue.
192
00:12:49,367 --> 00:12:51,780
All that surly waiter business
was much more
your kick than mine.
193
00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,113
But when I came in the door,
I thought, "Well, okay."
194
00:12:54,133 --> 00:12:57,367
And I'm quite
glad to see a menu
that doesn't make a fetish
195
00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:00,233
of stracciatella and pollo sorpreso.
196
00:13:03,533 --> 00:13:04,733
Good.
197
00:13:05,667 --> 00:13:07,133
Excellent.
198
00:13:08,167 --> 00:13:09,767
If you say so.
199
00:13:13,333 --> 00:13:18,533
Did he play the wrong card?
Could things be turning nasty?
200
00:13:18,667 --> 00:13:20,167
Retreating to cover,
201
00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:23,300
he concentrates hard on the antipasti.
202
00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:27,433
Come on. No sulks.
203
00:13:27,567 --> 00:13:29,767
Be nice. Sois sage.
204
00:13:29,900 --> 00:13:34,300
Cajoling English and caressing French.
205
00:13:34,433 --> 00:13:38,233
How long has it been?
Ten years? Eleven?
206
00:13:40,267 --> 00:13:41,467
Fifteen.
207
00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:44,600
No, it can't be that.
Let's settle for 12.
208
00:13:44,733 --> 00:13:48,233
And we've only got lunch
in which to tell each other
everything, so...
209
00:13:50,700 --> 00:13:52,067
Truce?
210
00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,133
For a moment, he withholds,
mouth full of pause...
211
00:13:58,233 --> 00:14:01,067
which he can either spit out or swallow.
212
00:14:01,667 --> 00:14:02,867
What's the use?
213
00:14:02,967 --> 00:14:04,167
Pax.
214
00:14:11,067 --> 00:14:15,233
His glass is drained,
hers is barely touched.
215
00:14:15,367 --> 00:14:20,433
Judiciously, he brings the levels level.
216
00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:24,500
So...
217
00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,233
Who's to start?
218
00:14:28,367 --> 00:14:31,633
- You.
- Right.
219
00:14:31,767 --> 00:14:35,933
I'll tell you
everything I can.
There's little to relate.
220
00:14:36,067 --> 00:14:39,067
- It was an aged, aged man...
- Stop!
221
00:14:39,133 --> 00:14:40,767
- What?
- If you can't be serious,
222
00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:43,333
we'll talk
about something else
or nothing at all.
223
00:14:43,467 --> 00:14:46,300
I was about to do that.
That's my whole story.
224
00:14:47,633 --> 00:14:48,867
Signora, signore.
225
00:14:49,067 --> 00:14:51,133
- We haven't...
- Yes, thank you.
226
00:14:51,267 --> 00:14:54,200
- Impeccable timing.
- But I'd like some advice.
227
00:14:54,333 --> 00:14:56,067
She doesn't need it,
228
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,100
but it's her style to entrust
herself in
unimportant matters,
229
00:14:59,233 --> 00:15:01,600
pose questions that are easy to answer,
230
00:15:01,733 --> 00:15:04,067
and indeed it makes the waiter
smile when,
231
00:15:04,133 --> 00:15:05,900
tapping the menu decisively,
232
00:15:06,067 --> 00:15:09,533
she requests
the pumpkin ravioli
because he has recommended it,
233
00:15:09,667 --> 00:15:11,800
with sea bass to follow.
234
00:15:11,933 --> 00:15:13,300
Signore?
235
00:15:13,433 --> 00:15:14,667
His turn.
236
00:15:16,067 --> 00:15:17,500
Carpaccio.
237
00:15:19,167 --> 00:15:21,300
And in the absence of...
238
00:15:22,167 --> 00:15:24,367
pollo whatsit,
239
00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:27,200
pizza, Napoletana, extra anchovies.
240
00:15:29,367 --> 00:15:33,100
No one smiles at that,
because he is not nice.
241
00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:40,733
What say we start again?
242
00:15:40,867 --> 00:15:45,367
-Wind back the years?
-Minutes.
You know what I mean.
243
00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:49,167
Ah, my autobiography.
No change there.
244
00:15:49,300 --> 00:15:52,300
Confessions of a Copy Editor, Chapter 93.
245
00:15:52,433 --> 00:15:56,067
It's an ordinary day
in a publishing
house of ill repute.
246
00:15:56,133 --> 00:15:59,133
Another moronic manuscript
comes crashing down the chute
247
00:15:59,267 --> 00:16:00,900
to be turned into art.
248
00:16:01,067 --> 00:16:03,747
This morning it
was Wayne Wanker's
latest dog's dinner of sex,
249
00:16:03,767 --> 00:16:06,733
teenage philosophy
and writing-course prose.
250
00:16:06,867 --> 00:16:08,633
Abracadabra, kick it up the arse
251
00:16:08,767 --> 00:16:11,625
and out it goes to be
Book of the Week or
some other bollocks.
252
00:16:11,733 --> 00:16:13,019
What a fraud. What a farce.
253
00:16:13,067 --> 00:16:15,367
And tomorrow, which of our geniuses
254
00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:18,233
will escape from the zoo
and head straight for us
255
00:16:18,367 --> 00:16:22,600
with a new masterpiece
lifeless in his jaws?
256
00:16:24,067 --> 00:16:27,267
That's about the size of it.
What about you?
257
00:16:31,267 --> 00:16:33,667
- Business as usual, then?
- Yes.
258
00:16:35,067 --> 00:16:38,367
Business... as usual.
259
00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:42,433
After such a rant,
he finds it difficult
to look her in the eye,
260
00:16:42,567 --> 00:16:46,367
which is bright, amused,
searching, pitiless,
261
00:16:47,067 --> 00:16:48,800
but he has to try.
262
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,633
A sip may help.
263
00:16:54,767 --> 00:16:57,633
When he notices
for the first time the faint,
264
00:16:57,767 --> 00:17:04,867
faint nimbus
of the lens circling the
gold-shot azure of each iris.
265
00:17:05,067 --> 00:17:08,733
Well, of course.
"Oracle eyes" he
used to call them.
266
00:17:08,867 --> 00:17:13,233
The harder you looked,
the more sublime
and unreadable they became.
267
00:17:13,367 --> 00:17:16,800
But have they lost their old force?
268
00:17:16,933 --> 00:17:22,067
The heretical question
strengthen his own stare.
269
00:17:22,133 --> 00:17:25,867
Gaze meets gaze, revealing, as ever,
270
00:17:26,067 --> 00:17:29,367
everything and nothing there.
271
00:17:32,700 --> 00:17:35,333
Flyaway thought. Back to life.
272
00:17:35,467 --> 00:17:37,333
And you?
273
00:17:37,467 --> 00:17:40,967
Oh! The good wife
and loving mother.
274
00:17:41,100 --> 00:17:43,533
That keeps me occupied.
I've no complaints.
275
00:17:43,667 --> 00:17:47,167
And Paris is a fabulous city.
You really should visit.
276
00:17:47,300 --> 00:17:48,933
He has,
277
00:17:49,067 --> 00:17:53,167
but is it
the moment to mention
that crazed escapade?
278
00:17:54,300 --> 00:17:57,467
Skulking at dusk in her prim grey square,
279
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,367
address folded in his raincoat pocket,
280
00:18:00,500 --> 00:18:04,700
with no real intention
of ringing the doorbell,
yet unable to depart.
281
00:18:06,467 --> 00:18:08,347
Until the horrible shock of the pigeons,
282
00:18:08,367 --> 00:18:11,767
an entire flock
rising at some scare
into the diminished light
283
00:18:11,900 --> 00:18:16,067
like a thousand umbrellas
simultaneously opening
284
00:18:16,133 --> 00:18:19,067
and telling him to go.
285
00:18:21,767 --> 00:18:25,667
No, he thinks. No.
286
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,433
She seems not to have noticed,
averted from him,
287
00:18:29,567 --> 00:18:34,067
twisting in her seat,
chin raised,
eyes reconnoitring.
288
00:18:35,433 --> 00:18:38,167
He'd like to kiss her long neck.
289
00:18:39,533 --> 00:18:41,067
Nibble it.
290
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,233
Nuzzle her jawbone with his nose.
291
00:18:47,733 --> 00:18:50,533
Which one is our waiter?
We could do with
some more water.
292
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:55,067
-That's...
That's him over there.
-Are you sure?
293
00:18:55,133 --> 00:18:56,467
You can't have forgotten,
294
00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,280
you were
practically seducing him
a minute ago.
295
00:18:58,300 --> 00:19:01,100
It's nice to know
you're still madly jealous.
296
00:19:01,233 --> 00:19:03,900
Oh, yes, he's rotten with jealousy.
297
00:19:04,067 --> 00:19:06,267
Absolutely I am not.
298
00:19:08,133 --> 00:19:10,480
And now we're on the subject,
how is the old pseud?
299
00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:14,067
He means her husband,
the celebrated novelist.
300
00:19:14,733 --> 00:19:16,400
The ubiquitous jacket photo,
301
00:19:16,533 --> 00:19:19,500
the wintry smirk that stole her from him.
302
00:19:20,733 --> 00:19:22,333
- She throws out a laugh.
- Ha!
303
00:19:22,467 --> 00:19:25,500
- A single syllable.
- Flourishing, thank you.
304
00:19:25,633 --> 00:19:28,067
How could she have been so gullible?
305
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,100
There's a new book of stories
out in the autumn
306
00:19:31,233 --> 00:19:32,713
and right now, he's hard at work
307
00:19:32,733 --> 00:19:35,400
on some lectures that Harvard
have asked him to do, so...
308
00:19:35,733 --> 00:19:37,200
everything's perfect.
309
00:19:37,333 --> 00:19:41,367
And how could he have been
so abject as to let it happen?
310
00:19:45,567 --> 00:19:48,533
Once more she is distracted,
catching the eye of the waiter
311
00:19:48,667 --> 00:19:51,767
with a demure flutter
of restaurant semaphore
312
00:19:51,900 --> 00:19:55,200
and asking for more water.
313
00:19:55,333 --> 00:19:58,100
And we'll need another bottle of this.
314
00:20:25,833 --> 00:20:27,500
Right. Uh, so, does he...
315
00:20:27,633 --> 00:20:30,100
Does he know that we're...
316
00:20:31,867 --> 00:20:33,067
Having lunch?
317
00:20:34,367 --> 00:20:37,000
Yes. Of course. I told him.
318
00:20:37,133 --> 00:20:39,867
And he
instructed me to pass on
his warmest regards,
319
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,033
which I've no
intention of doing,
as he well knows.
320
00:20:44,567 --> 00:20:46,533
That's very kind.
321
00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:52,367
Of both of you, I suppose.
322
00:21:07,133 --> 00:21:08,567
He watches,
323
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:11,667
and his companion watches him watch,
324
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,400
the flexing of supple back
and sturdy haunches
325
00:21:15,533 --> 00:21:21,067
as the waitress raises
and twists the head of
the wooden phallus,
326
00:21:21,733 --> 00:21:23,400
scattering seed.
327
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,300
- Buon appetito.
- Thank you.
328
00:21:32,867 --> 00:21:37,067
First mouthfuls are discussed
and pronounced delicious.
329
00:21:37,167 --> 00:21:40,567
Then, as of old,
forks trade between dishes
330
00:21:40,700 --> 00:21:42,633
and swaps are analysed.
331
00:21:43,700 --> 00:21:45,500
Mmm. You chose well.
332
00:21:47,133 --> 00:21:49,067
Nutmeg, I think.
Or could it be mace?
333
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,400
Sweet accord of comparisons
and compliments,
334
00:21:52,533 --> 00:21:55,667
recalling a time before the souring.
335
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,767
Beef's beautifully lean,
and the capers are
not too overpowering.
336
00:21:59,900 --> 00:22:03,067
I suppose this is nothing
to what you're used to.
337
00:22:03,167 --> 00:22:06,500
Paris?
You know, we never eat out.
338
00:22:06,633 --> 00:22:09,767
The boys have appetites,
but absolutely no taste.
339
00:22:09,900 --> 00:22:11,367
It's like feeding large dogs.
340
00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:15,333
Smart restaurants,
haute cuisine,
would be a total waste.
341
00:22:15,467 --> 00:22:20,400
So this, even Zanzotti's,
is a rare treat.
342
00:22:20,533 --> 00:22:24,500
Despite the qualification,
satisfying to hear.
343
00:22:26,700 --> 00:22:30,200
He has killed a bottle
almost single-handed.
344
00:22:30,333 --> 00:22:33,633
When he seizes the new one
and nods it in her direction,
345
00:22:33,767 --> 00:22:38,800
her flattened hand places an
interdiction on
the half-full glass
346
00:22:38,933 --> 00:22:42,100
that would be half-empty to him.
347
00:22:43,300 --> 00:22:47,900
Slender finger, once so intimate
348
00:22:48,067 --> 00:22:51,467
and versatile and tender.
349
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:56,500
Whirls of wrinkles
sealing
the knuckles deeper now,
350
00:22:56,633 --> 00:23:00,800
though the lacquerless nails
remain buffed and neat.
351
00:23:02,700 --> 00:23:06,400
Admitting defeat,
the bottle
withdraws backwards,
352
00:23:06,533 --> 00:23:11,233
still bowing like a courtier,
turns to his own glass and...
353
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,433
"a word in your ear"...
354
00:23:16,567 --> 00:23:20,767
blurts out its sorrows
in a splashy gabble.
355
00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:28,167
With the blade of her fork
she presses down, punctures,
356
00:23:28,300 --> 00:23:30,333
gashes, saws, seesaws,
357
00:23:30,467 --> 00:23:33,900
slices into a plump,
glistening pasta packet,
358
00:23:34,067 --> 00:23:38,300
then scoops and carries
half to her mouth.
359
00:23:40,433 --> 00:23:42,600
Chews.
360
00:23:42,733 --> 00:23:49,067
Chews, he observes, with less
conspicuous relish
than she used to.
361
00:23:49,133 --> 00:23:52,800
Have all her appetites turned less lusty?
362
00:23:55,300 --> 00:23:56,767
Mind your own business.
363
00:23:58,333 --> 00:24:04,500
But isn't it his business
to remember certain times?
364
00:24:04,633 --> 00:24:07,400
Old times,
bedtimes, between-times,
anytimes,
365
00:24:07,533 --> 00:24:11,867
of a startling, impromptu,
innocent lasciviousness
366
00:24:12,067 --> 00:24:13,767
that he'll never know again?
367
00:24:13,900 --> 00:24:17,967
Sleep-musky kisses
that roused him
in the small hours,
368
00:24:18,100 --> 00:24:21,133
peremptory custody of light, firm limbs,
369
00:24:21,267 --> 00:24:25,333
the polyrhythmic riding
he'll never know again.
370
00:24:25,467 --> 00:24:27,767
Caught a fish and let it go.
371
00:24:28,633 --> 00:24:32,667
Woe, woe, woe, woe...
372
00:24:38,067 --> 00:24:40,700
Found a treasure and threw it away.
373
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,367
Hey, hey.
374
00:24:44,933 --> 00:24:46,300
Drop it now.
375
00:24:48,933 --> 00:24:51,467
But jaws rending the raw meat
376
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:58,067
beat, beat, beat,
beat a relentless measure.
377
00:24:58,167 --> 00:25:01,300
Audible, fortunately only to himself.
378
00:25:02,733 --> 00:25:05,100
Figure of folly and pathos.
379
00:25:05,233 --> 00:25:08,933
Voyeur of the past and of the present,
380
00:25:09,067 --> 00:25:12,267
he steals a peep.
381
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:17,967
Every movement has elegance
and economy is swift and deft.
382
00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:23,267
The jut of her wristbone,
marvel of
engineering, holds the secret.
383
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,433
And as a connoisseur,
he yearns to inspect it at
closer quarters,
384
00:25:27,567 --> 00:25:29,967
by eye and by touch.
385
00:25:30,100 --> 00:25:32,233
But how can he catch it?
386
00:25:34,067 --> 00:25:38,067
Like a butterfly hunter,
he ponders the problem.
387
00:25:42,633 --> 00:25:44,200
Sweetheart.
388
00:25:46,533 --> 00:25:47,533
Sweetheart.
389
00:25:47,667 --> 00:25:50,500
I hate to say it but you're leering.
390
00:25:52,733 --> 00:25:54,433
Oh, God.
You're right, I'm sorry.
391
00:25:54,567 --> 00:25:57,067
It's the old male gaze.
392
00:25:57,133 --> 00:25:59,867
Through alcoholic haze.
393
00:26:00,067 --> 00:26:02,367
You can say that again.
394
00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:05,633
I think I've fallen in love
with your wrist.
395
00:26:05,767 --> 00:26:08,067
I think I've become a wrist fetishist.
396
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,133
You're
an everything fetishist.
Always have been.
397
00:26:11,267 --> 00:26:12,600
Guilty.
398
00:26:12,733 --> 00:26:15,100
You know,
it's one thing to ogle
a waitress' bum
399
00:26:15,233 --> 00:26:18,233
but this is the wrist of a married woman.
400
00:26:19,567 --> 00:26:20,933
Private property.
401
00:26:21,067 --> 00:26:24,600
Look, I'm sure you can see the
mark of the manacles, so...
402
00:26:25,667 --> 00:26:26,933
kindly desist.
403
00:26:27,067 --> 00:26:29,667
Now, where are the toilets?
404
00:26:50,833 --> 00:26:53,167
Half empty, but that can wait.
405
00:26:53,300 --> 00:26:55,567
How's the bottle? Plenty.
406
00:26:56,833 --> 00:26:58,067
He thinks.
407
00:26:59,700 --> 00:27:01,500
Thinks about drink.
408
00:27:01,633 --> 00:27:04,067
About his drinking.
409
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:09,800
The taste of his last mouthful
lies like rust on
his tongue, harsh.
410
00:27:09,933 --> 00:27:13,600
And yet his tongue craves more.
411
00:27:13,733 --> 00:27:18,067
At rest in the glass,
the wine is rusted purple.
412
00:27:18,167 --> 00:27:20,200
So there exists an affinity,
413
00:27:20,333 --> 00:27:25,133
a strong mutual pull
between wine and tongue.
414
00:27:25,933 --> 00:27:28,067
They are complementary.
415
00:27:28,767 --> 00:27:31,200
They are in love.
416
00:27:32,933 --> 00:27:34,833
The silent tongue calls out
417
00:27:34,967 --> 00:27:39,267
and the wine,
though inanimate,
will heed the call.
418
00:27:40,933 --> 00:27:43,367
Well, it's a theory,
419
00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:46,333
lent support when the glass rises
420
00:27:46,467 --> 00:27:49,167
and this time, not stopping short,
421
00:27:49,300 --> 00:27:53,433
delivers one lover to the other.
422
00:27:55,733 --> 00:27:57,167
They kiss,
423
00:27:58,267 --> 00:28:00,433
there's a little death,
424
00:28:01,267 --> 00:28:03,567
an insufficient bliss,
425
00:28:04,267 --> 00:28:06,533
but repeatable later.
426
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,333
But he's interrupted
by mention of a book he's
actually written.
427
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:22,067
His own.
428
00:28:22,167 --> 00:28:23,667
His only.
429
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:25,000
I read your book.
430
00:28:25,067 --> 00:28:27,333
- Are you working on any more?
- No.
431
00:28:28,067 --> 00:28:29,533
Blow all.
432
00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:31,733
Not a squeak.
433
00:28:32,633 --> 00:28:34,433
True.
434
00:28:34,567 --> 00:28:37,767
The muse of
misery so lavish in her
attentions for a year or two
435
00:28:37,900 --> 00:28:39,800
has not revisited,
436
00:28:39,933 --> 00:28:45,067
and that modest volume
of 36 wounded and weeping
lyrics remains unique.
437
00:28:46,233 --> 00:28:48,133
Not that the world cries out for more.
438
00:28:48,267 --> 00:28:50,100
One shitty review in the TLS,
439
00:28:50,233 --> 00:28:54,567
and its round of
common room sniggers
and put the dampers on that.
440
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,267
Sales scraped through to three figures
441
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:02,167
and the once gung-ho publisher
ceased to return phone calls.
442
00:29:02,300 --> 00:29:05,400
An illuminating history of betrayals.
443
00:29:05,533 --> 00:29:08,200
A book conceived in tears
444
00:29:08,333 --> 00:29:11,167
will be born drowned.
445
00:29:13,133 --> 00:29:14,800
That's a great shame.
446
00:29:14,933 --> 00:29:18,500
Naturally, I wasn't your
most objective reader but...
447
00:29:18,633 --> 00:29:21,467
I thought the poems had real power.
448
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:26,500
Some of the mythic stuff was
over the top but I
could see your, uh...
449
00:29:26,633 --> 00:29:29,333
Stop right there.
450
00:29:29,467 --> 00:29:31,067
What do you mean "mythic stuff"?
451
00:29:31,133 --> 00:29:34,867
The mythic stuff was
the whole fucking point.
452
00:29:36,767 --> 00:29:40,300
Well,
for a start, I'm not actually
in thrall to the King of Death
453
00:29:40,433 --> 00:29:41,867
or whoever he's meant to be.
454
00:29:42,067 --> 00:29:43,401
Yes, you are. Don't you see?
455
00:29:43,533 --> 00:29:45,967
- And you're totally Orpheus?
- Right.
456
00:29:46,100 --> 00:29:47,900
And I'm...
457
00:29:48,067 --> 00:29:50,047
You're my wife, you're dead,
and it's my business to
bring you back to life,
458
00:29:50,067 --> 00:29:52,500
which I very nearly succeed in doing.
459
00:29:52,633 --> 00:29:54,800
But you don't. No way.
460
00:29:54,933 --> 00:30:00,067
Because I like being dead,
and that's where the metaphor,
the analogy,
461
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,167
the whole preposterous
contrivance falls apart.
462
00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:04,933
So you loathed it.
463
00:30:05,067 --> 00:30:06,829
- I had my quibbles.
- You loathed it.
464
00:30:06,933 --> 00:30:08,267
No!
465
00:30:09,767 --> 00:30:13,367
It's the little,
dark, agile waitress,
the athlete ballerina
466
00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,933
with her deadpan demeanour
who serves them both.
467
00:30:17,067 --> 00:30:20,100
Refusal to smile explains her style.
468
00:30:20,233 --> 00:30:23,367
That and heavy black eyebrows.
469
00:30:23,500 --> 00:30:25,767
Sea bass for the signora.
470
00:30:25,900 --> 00:30:27,367
Thank you.
471
00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:29,233
And for him,
472
00:30:29,367 --> 00:30:34,133
a wheel of
gloop-smothered dough
singed at the rim.
473
00:30:44,967 --> 00:30:47,200
No swaps this time.
474
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:49,800
Conversation on hold.
475
00:30:49,933 --> 00:30:51,933
The scuffle and clack of her cutlery
476
00:30:52,067 --> 00:30:55,433
send out signals not
difficult to interpret.
477
00:30:59,733 --> 00:31:01,533
But he's soothed
478
00:31:01,667 --> 00:31:04,733
by the ambient blah.
479
00:31:04,867 --> 00:31:09,667
The big white noise
of a room that's full of
anonymously feeding humans.
480
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:15,067
Even the too-near table
of boisterous boys contributes
to its euphony,
481
00:31:15,167 --> 00:31:17,100
its equilibrium.
482
00:31:17,233 --> 00:31:21,200
There is peace at the heart of the din,
483
00:31:22,167 --> 00:31:25,333
concord in Babel.
484
00:31:27,100 --> 00:31:28,300
Then a kick on the shin.
485
00:31:28,333 --> 00:31:32,133
This is ground control, can you hear me?
486
00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:34,700
Loud and clear.
487
00:31:34,833 --> 00:31:36,467
I seem to have hurt your feelings.
488
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,400
Those old...
489
00:31:38,533 --> 00:31:42,105
I've had my feelings
surgically removed, they can't
be touched by anyone now.
490
00:31:45,067 --> 00:31:46,267
Oh, my dear.
491
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,067
He cannot not feel her
little finger lightly
492
00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:58,467
and with calm rotatory strokes
massage behind his knuckles,
493
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:05,500
then her thumb
shove into his fist
and nuzzle against his palm.
494
00:32:06,333 --> 00:32:08,500
Just what he doesn't want.
495
00:32:08,633 --> 00:32:11,067
The untimely stirring
of what could become
496
00:32:11,133 --> 00:32:14,700
by not so slow degrees a major bonk.
497
00:32:16,067 --> 00:32:18,567
Not now. Please.
498
00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:21,900
It's like an old,
tired, foolishly
friendly, mostly forgotten dog
499
00:32:22,067 --> 00:32:26,667
that's chosen an awkward
moment to rouse and shake
itself from its basket
500
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,467
and demand a romp.
501
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:34,600
Down boy. Down. Thank you.
Robert Graves. Down, I said.
502
00:32:34,733 --> 00:32:38,300
And he can't be sure
if it's willpower or the wine
503
00:32:38,433 --> 00:32:41,633
but the dog reluctantly behaves,
504
00:32:41,767 --> 00:32:45,933
retreating to its lonesome
malodorous nest
505
00:32:46,067 --> 00:32:48,800
for another long nap.
506
00:32:49,533 --> 00:32:50,800
Good chap.
507
00:32:51,733 --> 00:32:53,100
Good chap.
508
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:13,000
Penny?
509
00:33:15,767 --> 00:33:16,967
Sorry?
510
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,400
Your thoughts.
511
00:33:19,533 --> 00:33:22,633
No, uh, what was I thinking?
Not exactly.
512
00:33:22,767 --> 00:33:28,233
More probing
a mental dimension
beyond time and space.
513
00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:32,167
Typical.
514
00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:36,200
You can't even pay attention
for the few minutes we have.
515
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:38,567
I've come all this way,
516
00:33:38,700 --> 00:33:40,713
dropped my family at
not the most
convenient moment,
517
00:33:40,733 --> 00:33:42,880
hopped on the shuttle,
taken the taxi ride from hell,
518
00:33:42,900 --> 00:33:44,847
convinced at
every traffic light
I'd be late
519
00:33:44,867 --> 00:33:47,233
and here I am all tuned up
for our little reunion
520
00:33:47,367 --> 00:33:51,300
only to find your physical,
guzzling, tippling self
recognisably present,
521
00:33:51,433 --> 00:33:53,313
but your mind appears to have
flitted off on holiday.
522
00:33:53,333 --> 00:33:55,767
You're out to lunch at your own lunch.
523
00:33:57,733 --> 00:33:59,680
That's nicely put
and no doubt true as well,
524
00:33:59,700 --> 00:34:03,433
the sort of thing they used to
say on my school report,
along with "unteachable"
525
00:34:03,567 --> 00:34:06,533
and "half-witted".
Guzzling's unfair, though.
526
00:34:06,667 --> 00:34:10,400
I really can
manage the rest of this.
"Tippling", however...
527
00:34:14,067 --> 00:34:15,400
I take it...
528
00:34:17,067 --> 00:34:19,633
Antidote to all life's ills.
529
00:34:19,767 --> 00:34:20,833
Are there so many?
530
00:34:20,967 --> 00:34:22,667
Ha! Funny.
531
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,067
I wasn't trying to be.
532
00:34:25,167 --> 00:34:27,433
I suppose in number, not many.
533
00:34:27,567 --> 00:34:29,267
That's reassuring.
534
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:34,300
Just one great big drink to me only.
535
00:34:39,433 --> 00:34:40,633
Seems to help.
536
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,567
I appear to have lost
my appetite as well.
537
00:34:51,967 --> 00:34:54,267
You'll leave a fishy.
538
00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:55,700
Half a fishy.
539
00:34:56,500 --> 00:34:57,733
Sad waste.
540
00:34:58,200 --> 00:34:59,600
Borrow a taste?
541
00:35:00,833 --> 00:35:02,033
Better not.
542
00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:07,267
This hasn't gone quite as I expected.
543
00:35:10,067 --> 00:35:13,733
How did you expect it to go?
544
00:35:15,933 --> 00:35:17,648
Oh, I don't know, more of the old...
545
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:19,900
whatever we had.
546
00:35:20,067 --> 00:35:22,200
Which wasn't bad,
547
00:35:22,767 --> 00:35:24,067
was it?
548
00:35:24,900 --> 00:35:28,567
# We did have fun #
549
00:35:28,700 --> 00:35:29,900
Didn't we?
550
00:35:30,833 --> 00:35:36,067
- We did.
- # Da-da-da and no harm done #
551
00:35:39,867 --> 00:35:43,233
Ahem, till the King of Death
arrived on the scene.
552
00:35:43,367 --> 00:35:46,700
Or should I say the King of Prose?
553
00:35:46,833 --> 00:35:49,300
Or should you say nothing?
554
00:35:55,067 --> 00:35:56,067
Have you finished?
555
00:35:56,167 --> 00:35:58,100
- One minute.
- Yes. Thank you.
556
00:35:58,233 --> 00:36:00,833
And I believe my friend
has finished with his.
557
00:36:02,300 --> 00:36:04,733
Any desserts? Coffee?
558
00:36:05,733 --> 00:36:07,467
Her no, to both.
559
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:12,067
Dully he concurs, till an idea glows.
560
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,367
Glows and grows in the murk of his brain.
561
00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:19,500
Fine, fiery, feisty candle flame.
562
00:36:19,633 --> 00:36:24,133
But I think I could handle
a little grappa.
563
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,767
And away he zooms
on waiter business,
waiter among waiters,
564
00:36:31,900 --> 00:36:36,467
zapping and arabesquing
from table to table like bees
between blooms.
565
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,167
Busyness and buzziness.
566
00:36:39,300 --> 00:36:42,167
Now, that busy waitress,
the bee ballerina,
567
00:36:42,300 --> 00:36:45,800
is she sting or is she sweetness?
568
00:36:47,133 --> 00:36:49,133
Nowhere to be seen.
569
00:36:51,100 --> 00:36:53,067
Where are you this time?
570
00:36:54,067 --> 00:36:55,433
Oh, I'm sorry.
571
00:36:55,567 --> 00:36:57,233
Sorry indeed.
572
00:36:57,367 --> 00:37:01,200
I hadn't expected you to have
gone to seed with
quite such abandon.
573
00:37:01,333 --> 00:37:03,833
Or is this some sort of
574
00:37:03,967 --> 00:37:08,233
cockeyed performance you're
putting on for my
special benefit?
575
00:37:09,633 --> 00:37:12,733
I think I need to think about that one.
576
00:37:12,867 --> 00:37:16,233
Right, well,
while you're doing that,
I'll tell you what I think.
577
00:37:16,367 --> 00:37:19,533
For which we need to go
back to your poems.
578
00:37:19,667 --> 00:37:22,947
It strikes me you don't
understand them yourself.
They're not about me.
579
00:37:22,967 --> 00:37:27,200
I wasn't the kidnap victim.
It was you who were snatched
580
00:37:27,333 --> 00:37:30,367
and carried
away to some region
of darkness by, oh...
581
00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:32,347
by let's call her
the Queen of the Fairies.
582
00:37:32,367 --> 00:37:34,280
Don't interrupt.
I'm finding
the words as I go along
583
00:37:34,300 --> 00:37:37,280
but when I've stopped,
we'll see if the theory is
up to scrutiny.
584
00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:38,586
Now, according to my logic,
585
00:37:38,667 --> 00:37:40,620
the Eurydice that you're trying to rescue
586
00:37:40,667 --> 00:37:42,800
with your brave little song
must be yourself,
587
00:37:42,933 --> 00:37:44,800
your inner self, your soul.
588
00:37:44,933 --> 00:37:48,567
But you've not been
in touch with that
in your entire life.
589
00:37:48,700 --> 00:37:51,733
Which puts you in a hole,
strategically speaking.
590
00:37:51,867 --> 00:37:54,567
And who was it
dumped you there
in the first place?
591
00:37:54,700 --> 00:37:56,147
The kidnapper I was talking about,
592
00:37:56,167 --> 00:37:58,367
whom I can now reveal
to be the lyric muse,
593
00:37:58,500 --> 00:38:00,480
who should have left you alone
to work out your problems
594
00:38:00,500 --> 00:38:02,400
in some healthier fashion.
595
00:38:02,533 --> 00:38:05,633
And not led you on,
not made you
confuse poetry with therapy.
596
00:38:05,767 --> 00:38:09,367
And who's also to blame
for your present state of
emotional arrest,
597
00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:12,733
infantile truculence and
drunken flippancy.
598
00:38:12,867 --> 00:38:16,267
It's not just that you're
stuck in the past,
you're stuck in your poems.
599
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:21,067
Which have their merits.
They're nicely written,
they're clever and so on
600
00:38:21,167 --> 00:38:23,600
but they're misconceived, false,
601
00:38:24,700 --> 00:38:26,200
hollow, wrong.
602
00:38:26,333 --> 00:38:29,333
You should never have gone there.
603
00:38:29,467 --> 00:38:33,400
Yet you did.
That's the catastrophe.
That's the disaster.
604
00:38:37,300 --> 00:38:41,067
You're going to
have to repeat that.
I want to write it down.
605
00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,767
Especially the bit about flippulant, yes.
606
00:38:45,100 --> 00:38:47,133
What? I'm perfectly serious.
607
00:38:50,433 --> 00:38:53,600
The Oracle eyes appear
to have tears in them,
608
00:38:53,733 --> 00:38:56,233
but too proud to fall.
609
00:38:58,167 --> 00:39:00,567
Ever the escape artist.
610
00:39:00,700 --> 00:39:02,100
Ever the clown.
611
00:39:08,633 --> 00:39:11,067
Nip of grappa.
612
00:39:11,167 --> 00:39:13,800
Distillation of grape pips.
613
00:39:13,933 --> 00:39:19,633
Sits on the tongue a moment,
transmitting warmth
to the outer limbs,
614
00:39:19,767 --> 00:39:23,567
then slips to its doom.
615
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,067
No, I'm sure you're right.
616
00:39:34,567 --> 00:39:37,767
My little book was a
great big bag of shite,
617
00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:42,967
when I thought I was writing
hymns to your sublime beauty
and our lost love.
618
00:39:43,100 --> 00:39:46,600
Thank you for the elucidation.
Now, if you'd excuse me,
619
00:39:46,733 --> 00:39:49,543
I need to find my way to the
little girls',
sorry, not funny,
620
00:39:49,633 --> 00:39:51,333
little boys' room.
621
00:39:55,067 --> 00:39:59,233
The big noisy boys are
getting up to leave so he
chooses a roundabout route,
622
00:39:59,367 --> 00:40:05,000
taking care from a safe but
visible distance to throw
them a killer glare.
623
00:40:05,133 --> 00:40:07,200
One of them catches it.
624
00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:09,100
Baffled.
625
00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:16,962
The gents, he doesn't need the arrow,
626
00:40:17,067 --> 00:40:19,600
is along the passage and down
some narrow steps
627
00:40:19,733 --> 00:40:22,400
that tip him in
628
00:40:22,533 --> 00:40:25,133
faster than calculated.
629
00:40:27,667 --> 00:40:29,700
But he's made it.
630
00:40:29,833 --> 00:40:32,400
Knows at once the old chemical fragrance
631
00:40:32,533 --> 00:40:36,267
which only partially smothers
the jabbing kidney reek
632
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,267
that proclaims all men brothers.
633
00:40:41,767 --> 00:40:45,667
And there's
the familiar porcelain
goblet with its ancient stains
634
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,267
and crazed glaze.
635
00:40:51,900 --> 00:40:53,733
It is while he is standing,
636
00:40:53,867 --> 00:40:59,267
watching his yellow stream
slither sluggishly away
along the gulley
637
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,833
that he conceives his scheme
638
00:41:05,567 --> 00:41:09,400
to find the dark-browed waitress,
639
00:41:09,533 --> 00:41:13,500
to find her and ask her to marry him.
640
00:41:16,300 --> 00:41:19,667
Once out the door
and up the short
flight past the ladies,
641
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:22,833
then left again down
the doorless
corridor with, at the end,
642
00:41:22,967 --> 00:41:25,367
a longer flight to a
windowed half-landing
643
00:41:25,500 --> 00:41:27,500
view of brickwork and drainpipes.
644
00:41:27,633 --> 00:41:29,733
Turn about and aided by a shaky handrail
645
00:41:29,867 --> 00:41:33,600
up to the first floor,
two doors both rattled,
both locked.
646
00:41:33,733 --> 00:41:37,600
Then up,
up, up by steeper steps
and odder odours...
647
00:41:39,933 --> 00:41:41,667
...to the very top.
648
00:41:53,567 --> 00:41:55,067
He sits.
649
00:41:59,667 --> 00:42:03,767
An erupting pigeon briefly
interrupts, otherwise...
650
00:42:05,367 --> 00:42:06,567
silence.
651
00:42:08,433 --> 00:42:10,067
Non-event.
652
00:42:21,933 --> 00:42:24,467
Now he can't decide whether to weep
653
00:42:25,500 --> 00:42:27,467
or sleep.
654
00:44:06,300 --> 00:44:10,400
He is woken up by somebody
waking up inside him,
655
00:44:10,533 --> 00:44:13,167
abruptly and roughly.
656
00:44:13,300 --> 00:44:15,700
After some seconds ugly tussle
657
00:44:15,833 --> 00:44:18,367
he identifies his assailant
658
00:44:20,633 --> 00:44:22,800
as himself.
659
00:44:24,733 --> 00:44:26,333
They reach an agreement,
660
00:44:26,467 --> 00:44:30,500
encourage each
other to consciousness
and become one.
661
00:44:32,733 --> 00:44:36,667
What is he doing crouched
on this high shelf?
662
00:44:40,133 --> 00:44:43,067
The brick view illuminates nothing
663
00:44:43,167 --> 00:44:44,867
but a wheedling smell,
664
00:44:45,067 --> 00:44:47,767
mixture of kitchen wafts
and structural mildew
665
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:50,333
helps him to recall...
666
00:44:55,267 --> 00:44:56,467
lunch!
667
00:44:58,267 --> 00:44:59,467
Oh!
668
00:45:01,667 --> 00:45:06,767
Nicely judged lurches
propel him down to
the ground floor.
669
00:45:06,900 --> 00:45:11,700
And a more stately progress,
670
00:45:11,833 --> 00:45:16,500
just once
cannoning off the wall,
brings him back
671
00:45:17,267 --> 00:45:18,867
to the restaurant,
672
00:45:19,067 --> 00:45:21,733
now almost deserted.
673
00:45:21,867 --> 00:45:23,500
That's his table over there.
674
00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:26,200
Unoccupied.
675
00:45:27,300 --> 00:45:29,133
Less than an hour has passed,
676
00:45:29,267 --> 00:45:32,933
but he might have died
and be returning as a ghost.
677
00:45:33,067 --> 00:45:36,067
The lady, she go.
You no come back.
678
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:42,533
No, no, no, no. She pay.
679
00:45:42,667 --> 00:45:46,533
Airy hesitation.
He tucks his wallet away.
680
00:45:46,667 --> 00:45:48,100
Was she...
681
00:45:49,367 --> 00:45:51,167
Was she angry?
682
00:45:51,300 --> 00:45:53,133
Big shrug, big shake of the head.
683
00:45:53,267 --> 00:45:55,067
Comical, big-mouthed grimace.
684
00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:57,767
Wouldn't care to say,
same as enough said.
685
00:45:59,300 --> 00:46:03,633
Look! They've looked
after his shoulder bag.
686
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,633
Now he is saddled and ready to depart.
687
00:46:13,767 --> 00:46:17,867
But first, a last goodbye
to the old place.
688
00:46:18,067 --> 00:46:22,167
Nothing more empty
than a room
full of tables laid
689
00:46:23,067 --> 00:46:24,667
but without occupants.
690
00:46:28,167 --> 00:46:29,500
No, wait.
691
00:46:31,067 --> 00:46:33,200
There's someone seated by the window.
692
00:46:33,933 --> 00:46:36,133
A very old man.
693
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:38,100
Parchment face,
694
00:46:38,233 --> 00:46:42,067
sparse white hairs combed
in strict parallels,
695
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:45,167
blind,
staring eyes, black tie,
black suit.
696
00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:49,500
Rigid as a cadaver from
some Sicilian catacomb.
697
00:46:49,633 --> 00:46:52,167
Husk of life.
698
00:46:52,300 --> 00:46:55,367
Without sap, without savour.
699
00:46:55,500 --> 00:46:56,700
Nudge him,
700
00:46:57,533 --> 00:46:58,733
he'll crumble.
701
00:47:02,700 --> 00:47:04,633
As he turns to go,
702
00:47:04,767 --> 00:47:08,200
the recognition pierces him.
703
00:47:12,767 --> 00:47:14,133
Massimo.
53865
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